Leaf spring for spinning pipe



April 1952 A. L. STONE 2,593,498

LEAF SPRING FDR SPINNING PIPES Filed Aug. 19, 1949 FIG. 5

RUBBER ROLLER ROLL R WINDING DRUM I RIVE SHAFT SPRING FIG. 6

SPRING INVENTOR. Aibert L. Stone ATTORIQIY.

Patented Apr. 22, 1952 2,593,498 LEAF SPRING FOR SPINNING PIPE Albert L. Stone, Redondo Beach, Calif., assignor,

by mesne assignments, to Standard Oil Development Company, Elizabeth, N. .L, a corporation of Delaware Application August 19, 1949, Serial No. 111,289

4 Claims. (01. 255-35) This application is a continuation-in-part of Serial No. 84,436, filed March 30, 1949, now Patent No. 2,582,724 issued January 15, 1952.

This application is directed to a leaf sprin for spinning pipe.

ing the inside surface of the pipe gripping end of the spring provided with surfaces of emery One method for spinning a section of pipe or similar cylindrical member about its longitudinal axis is to wrap a flexible member about the section of pipe. One end in contact therewith is prevented from slipping while a pull is exerted on the other end which simultaneously unwinds the member and gives the pipe rotative motion.

The present invention is directed to a leaf spring for spinning pipe. At least one end is preformed into a coil for embracing the pipe, said coil having a diameter larger than the pipe to be spun with the inner surface of the coiled end prepared to grip the pipe. The other end of the elongated leaf spring is prepared for engagement with power means to supply power for coiling said spring around the pipe and for spinning the pipe.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention may be seen from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawing Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view of the embodiment of Figs. land 2 enlarged to show in greater detail the means for gripping the pipe;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view of the embodiment of Figs. 1 and 2 enlarged to show in greater detail Fig. 6 is a view taken along line VIVI of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a top view showing another embodiment of the leaf spring of the present invention in the configuration it naturally assumes with each end of. the member in the shape of a spiral coil;

Fig. 8 is a top view showing another embodiment of the leaf spring of the present invention in the shape it naturally assumes with one end preformed'in a coil for engaging with the pipe to be rotated and the remainder of the leaf spring extended in a straight line;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary view of an embodiment of a leaf spring of the present invention show cloth for increasing the gripping effect of the spring; and

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary view of another embodiment of a leaf spring of the present invention showing the inside surface of the pipe gripping end provided with magnets as the means for increasing the gripping effect of the spring.

Turning now specifically to the drawing and first to the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, leaf spring H is an elongated member with end l2 formed as a pipe gripping end and the other end I3 as the driving end. The pipe gripping end 12 has its inside surface provided with die members [4. Driving end I3 is provided with a driving bar l5. An edge of the spring is provided with a notch l6 spaced a predetermined distance from the driving bar [5.

In Fig. 1 the spring is shown straightened out while in Fig. 2 the spring is shown as a spiral coil. In this embodiment the spring is preformed into the shape of a spiral coil and it is this configuration which it naturally assumes.

The die members of the pipe gripping end of the spring are shown in greater detail in Fig. 3. By way of illustration, one method for providing the spring with the die members I4 is by brazing sections of a round or rat-tail file to the pipe gripping end of the spring.

In Fig. 4, the driving end of the spring with driving bar I5 is shown in greater detail. By way of illustration one method for fabricating the driving end of the spring involves the brazing of a bar of metal to the end of a spring. The notch It may be cut in the edge of the spring by any suitable means. In fabricating the spring, the die members-and driving bar may first be applied to an elongated leaf spring and the notch I6 then out in the edge, afterward the spring may be preformed into the shape of a spiral coil, as indicated in Fig. 2. The inside diameter of the coil should be greater than the outside diameter of the pipe to be spun for ease in applying the spring to the pipe and for removing it from the pipe.

In using the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, for spinning pipe, the pipe gripping end I2 is started around the pipe to be spun and the leaf spring then caused to wind around the pipe as a spiral by exerting a force along the elongated dimension of the spring until at least a major portion of the spring is wound around the pipe. When the diameter of the inner turn of the coil is greater than the diameter of the pipe,

the spring may be readily driven to form a spiral coil on the pipe. After coils of the spring have been placed on the pipe, a spinning force may be exerted on the pipe by forcing one side of the inner turn of the coil into contact with the pipe While a pull is exerted on thedriving end of the spring. Initially this pull reduces the diameter of the coils of the spring to approximately the diameter of the pipe so that the inner surface of the inner coil frictionally engages with the pipe and continuing the pull thereafter. causes rotation of the pipe with simultaneous uncoiling of the spring. Slippage between the. pipe. and the spring while this operation is being performed is. substantially reduced or eliminated by providing the end of the spring with means, such as die members I4, for gripping the pipe;

wrapped around the pipe and in the other direction when spinning the pipe, it is desirable to providea means at'the driving end for engaging witha source of power. The preferred means is the driving bar l5 shown adapted to engagewith a driving drum. The locking notch it? at the driving end of the spring is adapted to be engaged with a suitable latch so that a fixed length ofspring may be fed out each time for coiling around the pipe and when this fixed amount has beenffedout the notch may engage with a latch whichinsures that this exact amount is fed each time.

Various" embodiments and mechanisms for ldriving thespring to form a coil on to the pipe to be spun and for. exerting a pull on the driving end of'the spring for spinning the pipe may be .used. Several specific embodiments and devices suitable. for this purpose are. disclosed and claimedin my copending' application Serial No.

434,436, (filed March 30, 1949.

Eonthe purpose of explaining in greater de- -tail;the.use. of the. spinning spring being claimed in. the. present. application, an embodiment of driving mechanismfor. use with the spring for spinning the'pipeis. shown in Figs. 5 and 6. This device is shown in a simplified form in this case. Tim-construction of this device-is shown in detailin my aforesaid pending application Serial The driving mechanism of Figs. 5 and 6 includes a frame 20, a driving drum ii, a readily deformablefriction roller 22, a guide member 2.3, a latch 24 and jaws 25 and 25 pivoted to frame 29. An elongated leaf spring such as The jaws 25and 26 may then be engaged around the-section of *pipe28 and the pipe gripping end l2 ofithe spring driven around the pipe by suitable power means, not shown in the drawing, ro-

"tating'friction roller 22 in a clockwise direction when viewing the device as in Fig. 5. The drum 2| may also'have power appliedto it but to keep the leaf spring coils adjacent drum 2| tight against one another, it is essential that the surfaceioftfriction roller 22 move-at a faster speed than the: surface ."o'f: drum 2| when feeding out the spring. The pipe gripping end iZis forced substantially tangentially away from drum 2i by guide member 22. The pipe gripping end is then For. driving the spring in a first direction when it is being.

further guided by jaw members 25 and 26 to assume a spiral coil about pipe 28. Continuing rotation of roller 2| drives the spring until notch it engages latch 24. At this time most of the spring has been fed out, so the friction between the spring and the roller is greatly reduced. In any event, roller 22 may continue to rotate but surface merely slips on the surface of the leaf spring H. For the spinning operation, one side of the coil formed around pipe 28 is forced into frictional engagement with the pipe and the spring is then driven by rotating drum 2| in the clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 5. Driving barit engages with notch 21 to exert a pull on the end'of the-spring. As drum 2| rotates, its first action is to draw the coils of spring around pipe; 28Idownto. the circumference of the pipe whichinsures that the pipe gripping end portion, having die members l4, makes a firm frictional engagement with the pipe. Continuing the pull on theleaf spring causes spinningof the pipe with simultaneous unwinding of the coils of that portion of spring about pipe 28 as the other end is wound on drum 2|. If all of the spring is unwound from pipe 28 before the spinning operation is completed'it may be returned into the position shown in Fig. 5 and the operation repeated. If the spinning operation is completed before all of the spring is uncoiled from pipe 28 the remainder of the spring may be readily removed from the pipe by extending jaw members 25and 26 away from contact with the spring.

then feeding more spring on the pipe by rotating friction roller 22 in the clockwise direction. This causes the spiral coil or coils remaining around pipe 2a. to expand to a diameter somewhat larger than the circumference of the pipe. Then with the coils loose. on the pipe the spring is pulled off the pipe by rotating drum 2| in a clockwise direction, the inside surface of the spring in contact with the pipe 28 sliding readily on the pipe as the spring is drawn from the pipe.

Another embodiment of the present invention is shown in Fig. '7. In this embodiment the elongated leaf spring 30 is provided with die members M, driving bar l5, and locking notch I8 identical with like parts of the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 4 and are identified with like reference charactors. The embodiment of Fig. '7 is adapted to be used with a driving mechanism such as shown in Figs. 5 and 6 in which a rotating drum is used for driving the coil. The pipe gripping end 82 of spring 33 is preformed in the shape of a spiral coil, the inner diameter of which is greater than the diameter of the pipe to be spun, and the driving end 3| is preformed into a spiral coil, the inner diameter of which is approximately the diameter of the driving drum. In the embodiment shown in Fig. '7, the driving end 3| is preformed into a spiral coil of lesser diameter than the preformed pipe gripping end 32. However, it willbe understood that the diameter of the driving drum may be increased or decreased in which case the dimensions of coil into which the driving end 3| is preformed should be changed correspondingly.

Another embodiment of, the present invention is shown in Fig. 8. In this embodiment leaf spring 33 has its pipe gripping end 35 preformed as a spiral coil while the balance of the spring including driving end 34, is straight. The driving end 3 3 of the spring is provided with a driving bar l5 and locking notch l6. In this embodiment the locking notch should be spaced far enough from the driving bar to retain more than one full coil on the driving drum when the spring is run out, so that the driving bar will be held into contact with the driving drum at all times. Generally, the embodiment shown in Fig. 8 will not be preferred inasmuch as considerable energy must be utilized in forming the spring into a spiral coil each time it is wrapped on a section of pipe to be spun and also considerable energy is required in preforming the driving end 34 into a coil when the coil is driven by means of a drum such as shown in the driving mechanism of Figs. 5 and 6.

Fig; 9 is a fragmentary view of another embodiment of the pipe spinning spring of the present application. In this embodiment only the pipe gripping end of spring 36 is shown. The portion of this end which forms the inner portion of the spiral in contact with the pipe is prepared to increase the gripping force between the spring and the pipe by having pieces of emery cloth 31 secured thereto. By way of example the emery cloth may be secured to this spring by cementing the smooth cloth back thereof to the spring with the rough face of the emery cloth serving as the surface of the assembly which frictionally grips the pipe to be spun. For the purpose of simplifying the showing only a portion of the spring is shown in Fig. 9. It will be understood that if desired the entire spring may be preformed as shown in the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 4 or preformed as shown in the embodiment of Fig. 7 or preformed as shown in the embodiment of Fig. 8.

Fig. is a fragmentary view showing the pipe gripping portion of another embodiment. In this embodiment leaf spring 38 has a plurality of small bar magnets 39 with the axes lying on a line extending across the end of the spring. The magnets 39 are applied to the inner surface of the pipe gripping end for increasing the gripping force between the spring and, the pipe to be spun. It is preferred that the magnets 39 be short enough and arranged so that the major portion of the lines of magnetic force pass from the magnets through the single width of spring on which they are mounted and the pipe gripped by the device. That is to say, the purpose of the magnets is to increase the attractive force between the end of spring 38 and the pipe but it is desirable that they be proportioned so that there is little increase in frictional contact between adjacent coils of the spiral spring which may make it more difficult to release this spring from the pipe. For the purpose of simplifying the drawing only the pipe gripping end of spring 6 38 has been shown in Fig. 10. It will be understood that the entire spring may have any suitable configuration such as that shown in the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, or that of the embodiment of Fig. 7 or that of the embodiment of Fig. 8.

While I have disclosed preferred embodiments of the present invention, it will be understood by workmen skilled in the art that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

Having fully described and illustrated preferred embodiments of the present invention, what I desire to claim as new and useful and to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A spring adapted for spinning pipe consisting of an elongated leaf spring of substantially uniform thickness throughout its length having a pipe gripping end preformed in a coil having a diameter of the same order of magnitude but larger than that of the pipe to be spun, a pipe gripping member secured to the inner surface of said pipe gripping end and having a pipe gripping surface displaced away from the inner surface of the leaf spring, the pipe gripping member and spring having a greater thickness than the remainder of said spring and said pipe gripping member being capable of gripping said pipe with a greater force than the remainder of the spring and means on the other end of the spring adapted for releasable engagement with power means for moving the spring longitudinally.

2. A pipe spinning device as set forth in claim 1 in which said pipe gripping member comprises a die members on the inner surface of said spring.

3. A pipe spinning device as set forth in claim 1 in which said pipe gripping member comprises a piece of emery cloth on the inner surface of said spring.

4. A pipe spinning device as set forth in claim 1 in which said pipe gripping member comprises a plurality of magnets on the inner surface of said spring.

ALBERT L. STONE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 567,008 Segossie Sept. 1, 1896 823,809 Powers June 19, 1906 2,188,824 'I'higpen Jan. 30, 1940 

